1 Table of Contents Short Stories & Flash Fiction pg. 04 - Sweet Little Songbird | Joshua Skye pg. 107 - Lizard Brain | Ryan Benson pg. 08 - The Giant Killer | Marcus Cook pg. 140 - The Green Men of Gladdenhoe | Alex Grey pg. 11 - Night Terrors | Michael Anthony Dioguardi pg. 144 - An Artist and a Writer | Cat Voleur pg. 12 - Flesh of the Father | Guy Medley pg. 146 - Making Faces | Andrey Pissantchev pg. 14 - He Seemed Familiar | Roger Ley pg. 147 - Laughter is the Best Weapon | Holly Saiki pg. 15 - SAY (PART I) | Scarlett R. Algee pg. 148 - Precipitation | Merethe Walther pg. 15 - SAY (PART II) |Scarlett R. Algee pg. 149 - Beach Body | Nate Ealy pg. 17 - Victim Mentality | C.D.T. Ceates pg. 152 - Seller’s Remorse | Daniel Braithwaite pg. 18 - The Thorny Girl | Alex Woolf pg. 154 - Salvage | Rivka Jacobs pg. 22 - Shinjitsu | Patrick Winters pg. 158 - Summer Supper | Nicole Henning pg. 24 - The Grove Mother | Karen Thrower pg. 159 - Wasteland Beast | Naomi Brown pg. 26 - Human Eaters | Miracle Austin pg. 162 - The Man in the Painting | Destiny Eve pg. 28 - She Was Lovely | Lori Safranek pg. 164 - The Itch | Rebecca R. Pierce pg. 30 - Fear the Deer | Joshua E. Borgmann pg. 166 - I Am Mine | Kelly Matsuura pg. 33 - My Misfortunate Death | Michael D. Davis pg. 167 - Drawbridge | Kieran Judge pg. 34 - Zero Dark | Garth von Buchholz pg. 171 - Major Arcana |Gregory L. Steighner pg. 36 - Glitches | Jacob Mielke pg. 174 - Heaven’s Doors | Marge Simon pg. 40 - Lab Assistant | Marge Simon pg. 175 - A View of the Water | Steven Wynne pg. 41 - Sleep Tight | Charles Gramlich pg. 179 - Hell | Mark Steinwachs pg. 42 - The Key to the Forgotten Door | Stacy Fileccia pg. 180 - It Will Come Tonight | Radar DeBoard pg. 46 - A Girl Called Summer | Dave Luford pg. 181 - Sorry | Daniel J. Volpe pg. 47 - Gloria’s Bounty | Rebecca Anderson pg. 184 - Crow | Naching T. Kassa pg. 48 - Redemption | Alyson Faye pg. 185 - The Red Line | Patrick J Wynn pg. 53 - A Mac Guy | R D Doan pg. 189 - Avenger of the Abyss | E.H. Davis pg. 54 - Mental Anesthetic | Lydia Prime pg. 192 - The Child Snatchers | Rie Sheridan Rose pg. 54 - Coda | Greg Francis pg. 193 - Unseen | G. Allen Wilbanks pg. 55 - Sanguinity |Greg Francis pg. 194 - A Day at the Sea Park | Sheri White pg. 59 - What Remains | R.A. Clarke pg. 196 - Vatsala The Water Spirit | Shashi Kadapa pg. 60 - Broken Flower | Mary Ann Peden-Coviello pg. 198 - In Your Hands | Owen Atkinson pg. 61 - Beware the Grobmann | Nicholas Paschall pg. 202 - The River | Candace M. Meredith pg. 63 - Where We Used to Play | Sonora Taylor pg. 203 - Vultures of the Aftermath | Heinrich von Wolfcastle pg. 65 - Light in the Dark | E. Seneca pg. 204 - Paying Lip Service to Legends | John H. Dromey pg. 67 - The Dead-End of Summer | Will H. Blackwell, Jr. pg. 206 - On the Morrow | Elizabeth Nettleton pg. 68 - The Summer Streets | RJ Meldrum pg. 209 - Lantern in the Snow | Marge Simon pg. 71 - Mr. Moonlight | Loren Rhoads pg. 210 - A Crow in an Alley | J. David Thayer pg. 72 - Tooth Fairy | Suzanne Craig-Whytock pg. 212 - Here Comes the Sun | Sheri White pg. 73 - Hunter’s Glade | Lee Andrew Forman pg. 214 - Digging Up the Dead | Edward Ahern pg. 75 - Silence Alone | Carl Olson pg. 217 - Detriment | Joe Moses Leggett pg. 77 - Fermentia | Vivian Kasley pg. 220 - A Penny for the Rides | Josephine Queen pg. 81 - Burning Soil | Nina D’Arcangela pg. 221 - The dog fate | Christopher T. Dabrowski pg. 82 - Tumor | G.A. Miller pg. 223 - Mrs. Christmas | Heather Stewart pg. 84 - Behold the Sandman | Radar DeBoard pg. 226 - What Then Should We Fear | Matthew Stockhausen pg. 84 - From a Nightmare | Radar DeBoard pg. 227 - The Dying of the Light | Rie Sheridan Rose pg. 86 - The Remnants | Tiffany Michelle Brown pg. 229 - The Treadmill | Cecilia Kennedy pg. 87 - Look At Me | Tristan Nieto pg. 232 - Doctor Visit | Patrick J Wynn pg. 92 - The Fire-Escape | Elana Gomel pg. 234 - The Vengeance of His Evil | Harrison Kim pg. 94 - Eternal | Arthur M Harper pg. 236 - Sleep | Kane Salzer pg. 95 - The Great Divide | Mark Cassell pg. 238 - Reminiscences of a Shrunken Head | Harris Coverley pg. 96 - A Close Embrace | Gwen Weir pg. 241 - It Bites | Andy Swindells pg. 97 - The Mirror | Gwen Weir pg. 243 - AWK-Ward... | Rie Sheridan Rose pg. 97 - A New Friend | Gwen Weir pg. 244 - John Doe | David A.F. Brown pg. 100 - Lone Orbit | Roger Ley pg. 245 - Goodnight Story | Patrick J Wynn pg. 102 - The Portrait Painter | HJ Mara pg. 247 - Solar-phobia | Will H. Blackwell, Jr. pg. 105 - Maggoty Jo | Diane Arrelle 2 Table of Contents Poetry Features pg. 112 - Summer Love | Kelly Matsuura Featured Authors: pg. 113 - Under the Water | Sumiko Saulson pg. 108 - Nicholas Paschall | Growth in Writing pg. 114 - The Kraken | Sumiko Saulson pg. 248 - Mark Steinwachs | Not the Prototypical Horror Fan pg. 115 - Child of the Tenderloin | Marge Simon pg. 116 - The Devil's Villanelle | Joshua E. Borgmann pg. 116 - I Want A Succubus | Joshua E. Borgmann Featured Novels: pg. 116 - New Moon Risin' Blues | Joshua E. Borgmann pg. 110 - Jack in the Box | Nicholas Paschall pg. 117 - Thirteen | Joshua E. Borgmann pg. 250 - The Night | Mark Steinwachs pg. 119 - Widow’s Weeping Crawl | Tiana von Buchholz pg. 120 - The Order of Events | Ken Poyner Featured Photographers: pg. 121 - The Threat | Ken Poyner pg. 52 - Mai Kil | Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend pg. 123 - Half Light | Lynn White pg. 124 - Nightwalker | Ivanka Fear pg. 10 - Right Side Up pg. 124 - Negative Force Field | Ivanka Fear pg. 21 - Dolly pg. 124 - Limbo Land | Ivanka Fear pg. 39 - Book & Ladder pg. 125 - Home Sweet Hideaway | Brian James Lewis pg. 51 - 1LB Box pg. 126 - Alien Ambassador | Brian James Lewis pg. 187 - Danielle Wirsansky | Amor Malus pg. 127 - Where Are the Hands | Garth von Buchholz pg. 143 - Alluring pg. 128 - She Caresses Her Lover’s Arm[…] | Brian Rosenberger pg. 157 - No Place to Hide pg. 128 - Our Elders | Brian Rosenberger pg. 128 - Witch Bait | Brian Rosenberger pg. 170 - He Looms pg. 129 - Red Rain | Brian Rosenberger pg. 186 - Three by Three pg. 129 - That Time of Year | Brian Rosenberger pg. 130 - Dental problems | Christopher T. Dabrowski Featured Illustrators: pg. 130 - The spiritual dilemmas[…] | Christopher T. Dabrowski Pg. 99 - Jeanette Andromeda | It’s OK to Be a Fan Girl pg. 130 - The gods order | Christopher T. Dabrowski pg. 64 - The Demon pg. 132 - Broodsac | Andy Perez pg. 74 - The Siblings pg. 133 - Muruch Gollerus | Sarra Culleno pg. 85 - Father of Flesh pg. 133 - The Mother Saile | Sarra Culleno pg. 134 - Oma’s Song | Sarra Culleno pg. 98 - The Violinist pg. 135 - Graveyard Hours | Lori R. Lopez Lisa Vasquez pg. 136 - Leviathan | Lori R. Lopez pg. 201 - Plague Doctor pg. 137 - Into the bitter arms of Night | Lori R. Lopez pg. 213 - Witchy Eyes pg. 138 - Firebird | Lori R. Lopez pg. 222 - Batty pg. 233 - New Moon Murder pg. 58 - In Memoriam | Gregory Francis pg. 256 - Credits & Copyright 3 Sweet Little Songbird | Joshua Skye Adorable Gerdie, her father’s sweet little songbird, held her old raggedy doll close, her chin digging into its throat as she tried to hide behind it, distance herself from a group of loudly, violently arguing adults. Though they looked like her and her daddy, smooth dark skin, jet black hair, big brown eyes and full lips, they seemed alien to her. Different somehow. Menacing. Scary. Even the language they used was unfamiliar and threatening, augmented by their curiously childish actions. On their first Friday together in a long time, her daddy had taken her to the laundry mat to get the tedious chore out of the way, so they could have the rest of the weekend to themselves. They’d planned movies, games, and pizza at Chuck E. Cheese. But before he’d even scooped the first load of dirty clothes out of the hamper, only a few feet away, a fight broke out between several adults, a confrontation that had immediately put her and her daddy on edge. Even at eleven-years-old, she could see the pointlessness of the fight. There were several machines throughout the room that weren’t being used. Why were these people getting so angry over one of them? It made no sense to her, and their dramatically over-the-top reactions were scary. Her daddy took a stance between her and the fighting people, but she could still clearly see them, their antics were not contained to one small space, and very clearly hear every single vulgarity they shouted. There was a security guard, but he was a tiny old man with hunched shoulders and he looked as frightened and confused as she was. He stood in the middle of the fray, eyes wide, looking about for some sort of help, but no other customers dared get involved. Some had to stay, laundry in mid-cycle, but many hurriedly gathered their things and got out of there as fast as they could. Gerdie didn’t blame them at all. She wanted to leave too, but in order to do so, she and her daddy would have to traipse right through the middle of the fight, a risky move she had no interest in doing. From the looks of things, her daddy was hesitant on doing that too, and she couldn’t blame him, not one bit. “Get behind me, little songbird.” Her daddy backed up and put his arms out to shield her even more as fists began to be thrown amidst louder screams and even more offensive expletives.